sketches

I am designing a luthier school in downtown Fargo. It will be a 2 yr program where students learn the craft of making and repairing string instruments. The programs calls for at least 16 student residences, work space/classrooms, and a public interaction area/retail.

I contemplating ideas with a roof top bar where students could play the instruments and perform. scratched that idea and went with a repair store as my public engagement.

Concrete construction was the task of this studio project. I first looked at pre and post tensioning systems. i saw a correlation between the taught steel cables and the string instruments. i explored structures like suspension bridges and contemplated somehow hanging or suspending my floors from a solid and stable roof structure. this, although ambitious, seemed a bit too extreme so i favored a structure that dealt with precast elements in compression, concrete's real strength. i settled on a system that to me resembles that of an aquaduct or highway structure. i wanted the edge of my building to cantilever so it still had that suspended feel to it. i achieved that with my concrete structure. the building is enveloped in a curtain wall system.

this is my progress thus far ... feel free to comment

Final Boards

detail work

the first set of pictures deals with some roof form and exterior issues

next 2 are quick sketches of some wall sections we plan on drawing

there are some call-outs for important detail moments

again, these are rough sketches, our model is in revit and everything is more precise there ... images are on their way 

tyler has also done some sweet renders of our building, lighting, and facade

Progress on Winter Wheat Research Facility

First is a site plan of our research facility

second is a level 2 floor plan

third is a level 3 floor plan

fourth is our elevations

fifth is a rough idea of our materials palette

structural revit model

here is a tentative revit model for our agricultural research facility

starting to show structure and layout of spaces

... floor plans will follow (stay tuned)

Sketches ... Winter Wheat Ag Research Facility

Stocking the Bank

... its a blustery day in the hundred acre wood ... i've been warmly nestled up to my computer, contemplating what to write for this blog ... welp, here goes! ... been workin hard on stocking my bank, think i have some useful information about agricultural research, and my crop of winter wheat ... feel pretty comfortable where i'm at, have some ideas about my project and wanna dive in, but more research can't hurt right?

Semester Goals

For myself in general:

• stay organized
• manage time efficiently
• prioritize: separate wants from needs without losing ambition

Knowledge and skills learned

• I’m interested in materials. I like the unique qualities each material carries. At the end of this semester I would like to be better equipped to apply and use these materials in projects where they would be appropriate.
• Structure also is something that intrigues me. I believe firmly in practicality. Form follows function. I think there is a beauty that derives from necessity. Physics has always interested me. How loads are transferred through a building and the multitude of ways this can be accomplished should be a useful tool in my architectural bag of tricks.